Newsbytes: Big Buck 2018 World Championships; Pump It Up 20th; Rhythm Game News & More

Hello fellow Heroes, I hope that you’ve had a great week. Today’s Newsbytes is heavy on the videos, so if those are your thing, you should enjoy this post.

Before we get to that, I just wanted to do some quick shameless self-promotion 😛 Some of you had asked if I would be getting a print version of the Arcade Heroes Arcade & Pinball Gaming Almanac, and while it’s a little late, it is available now through Amazon. So if you like your books in print, you can grab one here! Since someone asked, no, I do not mind signing one if you have a copy with you at IAAPA, although I haven’t setup any sort of book signing event 😛 My sincere thanks to any buyers of either copy, as this is another low-key self-published effort.

Now, onto the news!

The Big Buck World Championship XI Event

Big Buck Hunter fans, it’s that time of year, where the best of the best come together to find out who is the best virtual hunter in the world. With $100,000 total up for grabs, this is nothing to sneeze at; the venue is also more impressive than ever, as shown by the Featured Post pic. You can watch the feed below, of if that doesn’t work, watch it directly on Twitch.tv.

Pump It Up Celebrating 20 Years

Did you know that Andamiro’s arcade dancing game turns 20 this year? If not, then you know now. To celebrate, Andamiro is launching a new software build for the game that will be shown off at IAAPA 2018 in a few weeks. That said, it will also be available on mobile and HTML5, although as I like to remind people, the arcade version is going to be a superior experience 😉

WACCA Draws Attention In Japan

[Thanks to Kieran M. for the tip]

I think I briefly mentioned this up-and-coming rhythm arcade game, but there wasn’t much to go on previously. For rhythm game fans, if you like seeing fresh ideas coming to the genre, then this seems to offer it in spades. It’s almost an evolution of Sega’s Maimai – circular screen with the controls around the screen but in a tunnel form. It’s one of those games that is easier to explain through video than text. I highly doubt that this will receive official support in the USA, but imports to certain locations are all but guaranteed. Check out the game in the trailer below, visit the website here.

Piano Keys

Over in the realm of videmption, Bay Tek released a video to promote the new model of their take on arcade rhythm gaming, a smaller version of Grand Piano Keys that removes “Grand” from the title thanks to the more compacy, single player design. This one is shipping now:

Making Deadpool

Time for another brief behind-the-scenes look at the making of a Stern Pinball machine, this time for Deadpool. If you’ve had a chance to play this one already, what did you think of it?

The Development of Asteroids

If you’re more inclined to read about arcade history than to watch, the Arcade Blogger has a great piece on the development of Atari’s seminal Asteroids. This gets into who it evolved from an idea that Lyle Rains had, to Ed Logg’s final creation that would become Atari’s most recognizable game. It has many interesting nuggest of info that you might not have heard before, like the game once raking in around $10 million a week (combining the earnings of all locations) in quarters. If you love game development, the creation process, Atari or game history, then check this out.

Let’s Play CarnEvil

No, this isn’t news about CarnEvil, that’s an IP that probably won’t see a revival anytime soon. But with Halloween coming up, let’s take a stroll down memory lane of one of the most iconic Halloween themed games ever made. The poem from the game makes for a great T-Shirt too…

What is your favorite scary game to play this time of year?

That’s all I’ve got for this weekend – stay tuned for some more exciting news through the next week as we inch ever closer to IAAPA 2018!